To build a sustainable mentoring system within the Western Cape Music and Performance Arts community; where established practitioners act as mentors for those less experienced within the industry.To go beyond this and build a culture of skills exchange where whatever an individual has to offer is perceived as having value.

The CES exchange will also, by default, act as an industry networking tool.

Yes, but why should I join?

The challenge of initiatives such as the Brain Bank, is that they usually require a large amount of time input with no return, on several levels:

By the Mentors who give up their free time to help learners

Sourcing of suitable mentors and matching them with suitable learners,

The administration around the process, and ongoing recruitment of both parties.

The CES talent exchange system is designed around the premise that the users (in this case the mentors and learners) join and maintain their input themselves. By using this already established and successful tool, Cape MIC and PANSA’s aim is to create the Brain Bank in a manner that virtually “runs” itself.

South African designed and built, the CES is a computerized system where any individual can make “offerings” of their time, for which they get paid talents per hour. Individuals set their own “talent” rate. It is currently thriving, and available in towns all over the world – visit www.ces.org.za

Users will be able to log into the CES exchange and look for certain skills that they need, and take people up on their “offering”. Those who give up their time are paid in talents, which are monitored by the system. Talents can then be exchanged for anything available on the CES system – so effectively though no money is involved at any point everyone is being “paid” for their time.

Other advantages/ Important Points

The BrainBank does not limit how a persons talent’s can be used, if a mentor offers their time they can then exchange talents for massages, venue hire, classes, even furniture!

As soon as someone registers they are advised to “spend” talents as they then get involved in the community faster. The BrainBank does not require that a person earns talents before they start ‘buying’ – in fact the opposite is recommended,

Each member is required to submit at least two offerings when they sign up. Your time and skills are valuable. We’re creating a system of “worth” exchange – and therefore building towards an industry of confident practitioners!